


Saving Your Numb Heart

by Smolstarks



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Bandit!Steve, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapped Tony Stark, M/M, Prince Tony - Freeform, Protective Steve Rogers, Slow Build, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, it's just weak
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:26:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smolstarks/pseuds/Smolstarks
Summary: Being a prince didn't make you were invincible; for Tony, the cold had always meant pain and uncertainty. So when he decides to take a chance and venture outside when it's snowing, of course everything goes to shit. Now he's captive to a bunch of bandits and his heart feels like it's failing on him. And on top of it all, a young bandit with blue eyes that resembled the ocean was constantly trying to take care of him, making it physically impossible for Tony to hate him like he wanted to....Snow makes the night brighter; when you look outside, the pure white substance illuminates the air. It is not pitch black. Instead of contradicting, the white color compliments the darkness and gives it a sense of beauty. No one ever expects there to be a murder on a snowy night like this one and no one ever expects it to be nothing more than a distraction.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First off, let me start with a Happy Birthday to Robert Downey Jr.! And a very special shout out to my beta Reanna. This is my first fic so be gentle, but other than that, enjoy. Chapters after this one should be longer.

Snow makes the night brighter; when you look outside, the pure white substance illuminates the air. It is not pitch black. Instead of contradicting, the white color compliments the darkness and gives it a sense of beauty. No one ever expects there to be a murder on a snowy night like this one and no one ever expects it to be nothing more than a distraction.

\---------

“Anthony… Anthony! Please pay attention to Sir Eustice. He has pressing matters he wishes to discuss,” the king, Howard Stark, said to his son who was currently fiddling with his knife. 

“Yeah, pressing as in he wants to press a knife through your back,” Tony muttered under his breath, twirling the blade absentmindedly, silver scraping against wood.

“What was that?!” Howard yelled.

Tony smirked… “Nothing Father,” he placed the blade away and continued. “I was just merely stating how you are absolutely correct, as you usually are, my lord, and I should listen because Sir Eustice always has your back.” 

“Watch that mouth of yours or you’ll be in the stocks and out of this meeting.”

“If only…” Tony whispered. He placed his hands on the table and rested his chin against them. They were in the throne room, the heart of the castle. On the right side of room, portraits adorned the wall of every King to ever rule, the last being of course, Tony’s father Howard. On the left side though, featured a row of windows, high enough to let the light from the sun filter in and shine upon those portraits. Right now there was no sun though and Tony watched as the first trickle of snowflakes descended towards the ground. 

Tony had always liked the snow, but maybe it was because he was never allowed outside the castle when it was this cold; he had a heart condition since birth and the cold was just too hard for him to breathe in and harder to breathe meant more work for his pathetically weak heart which was a big no-no... and yet he couldn't help but wish to be outside in those white flakes. As he watched them fall, he wondered if they would stick or if the substance would be gone by morning, no evidence that it even visited the ground in the first place. 

Tony spent the rest of the meeting staring at those large windows… maybe he could just sneak outside for just a minute, just long enough to be able to touch it. Rhodey could help him, if the honeybear just stopped worrying about him for two seconds. Pepper, on the other hand, would never agree. The servant could take Tony apart with two words, despite the fact that he was the Prince and technically in charge of her. He wouldn’t have it any other way though. No one could mess with Pepper.

So it was up to Rhodey. They’d have to wait until after sundown; too many people walked the castle halls during the day. It wouldn’t be the first time Tony has snuck out, so it shouldn’t be that difficult. 

When the meeting ended, Tony went straight to the knight’s quarters and knocked. He could hear Rhodey shuffling around inside as he waited. When Rhodey did open the door, he met Tony with a glare and a bed head.

“Seriously? You just woke up?” Tony chuckled as he shoved past Rhodey and walked into the room. He sat on the bed, the sheets still warm from Rhodey laying on them just a few minutes before. 

“It’s my day off, punk. What do you want?” Rhodey asked, closing the door.

“Touchy much?” Tony placed his hands behind his back. “Actually, I’ve come with a proposition, Honeybear. A scheme to help your dearest pal discover what snow feels like.”

“Tony…” Rhodey sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “We’ve talked about this. You can’t go in the snow.” 

“I know, I know! But just hear me out. I’m merely suggesting a few minutes out in the cold, just enough to touch and eat it if I please,” Tony replied. 

“Eat it?”

“Every person has eaten snow before and I refuse to be the only one in this universe unable to taste that white matter!” Tony flopped the rest of his body down onto Rhodey’s bed and crossed his arms. Rhodey smirked at the little pout adorning his friend’s face.

Tony was right about one thing… he might as well be the only person Rhodey knows that has never got to touch snow with his boots, nevermind his hands. Sighing, and partly knowing he would probably regret this, Rhodey said, “Alright…”

“Alright? Really?” Tony sat up and tackled Rhodey in a hug. “Oh thank you Rhodey pal, you won’t regret it.”

“Yeah, yeah, get off.” he replied, pushing Tony playfully away. Truth was, Rhodey was worried. A few minutes or not, the cold affected Tony’s breathing too much, to the point where he could possibly pass out… it had happened before, admittedly he was way younger though. However, when Rhodey saw the beaming smile on his best friend’s face, he couldn’t help but think it’ll all be worth it.

\---------

The sun fell and with it, shadows descended over the castle. Outside was still as white as ever, the ground seemingly glowing underneath the dark sky. Inside the castle, Tony was getting ready, pulling on a gray cloak that had a hood to cover his face. Underneath he was wearing a simple, thick long sleeve tunic, pants with brown boots, and gloves.

Tony fiddled with his sleeve, suddenly nervous as he stood in front of his mirror. He wasn’t even sure why he was doing this in the first place. Yes, he did want to eat the snow and feel it against his skin, but was it worth it? No… it was more than that. It was time to prove to himself that he was stronger than people thought he was. He could handle a little cold no problem. What was a prince that couldn't even handle harsh weather? Worthless, that’s what. Princes were suppose to fight for their people and yet, here was Tony hiding in the castle during the winter months. 

A knock on the door interrupted Tony’s thinking and Rhodey peeked his head inside and whispered, “Ready to go?”

With one last look into the mirror, Tony nodded and left his chambers. There were guards stationed at crucial points in the castle, such as the dungeons and armory, and some walked the halls, but Tony knew his way around them easily. He could have done this all by himself if he really wanted to, but to be honest, Tony didn’t want to go outside alone… not in the cold, all on his own. 

They took the northeast corridor, down a long winded hallway that led to a stone stairwell. One by one, they took each step down, until they came to a wooden door. Five more steps and Tony would be outside. He yearned for this moment, wanting to prove to himself that he could do it… be in the snow and not die like everyone just assumed he would, but as he stood in front of that door, he hesitated… His hands shook a little bit and in that moment Tony realized he was scared. If anything, that just made him more determined and, as he felt Rhodey’s hands touch his shoulder, he took a deep breath in. “I’m fine…”

“Tones…” Rhodey shook his head. “Look at me.” When Tony didn’t listen, Rhodey pulled his shoulder back and turned him towards himself. He found nothing but blankness in Tony’s gaze. “We don’t have to do this yanno…”

Tony sighed and said, “I know… I know, but I want to.” He looked back at the door. A whole life of seventeen years being told he couldn’t go outside because the temperature dropped below 40 degrees. A whole life of training inside while his knights continued to fight through the harsh conditions. When Tony was younger, he could remember his mom sneaking him to an open window, letting him taste the crisp cold air. She died when he was four, right after a pretty horrible miscarriage… some say she died of a broken heart, others speculate she drank herself to death. Tony? Tony just missed his mom.

“You ready?” That was Rhodey. He placed a gentle hand against Tony’s back, not pressing, just there as a reminder that Tony wasn’t alone.

Tony nodded, but didn’t move, letting Rhodey go ahead of him to open the door. As soon as it was open a crack, the wind blew it the rest of the way, and Tony felt the cold right away. He took one step and then another and then the third crunch beneath his foot, soft and… ‘snow,’ Tony thought as his other boot left the stone floor for the outside snow-covered ground. 

He ran, feeling his legs become sluggish against the onslaught of inches of snow; he could barely lift his feet with how much there was. “Rhodey, this… this is amazing! Look at it all!” Tony exclaimed, pure wonder in his eyes as he reached down towards the ground to touch with it with his hands. He stopped halfway there, pausing and then in a reckless haste, ripped a glove off and shoved the unprotected hand into the snow. 

“Tony!” Rhodey couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up inside his chest at the action. “Maybe try to keep the gloves on?”

“Oh, wow… it’s so soft.” He manipulated it in his hand, rubbing it along his palm and fingers. Already Tony could feel the cold affecting his breathing slightly, but not nearly enough for cause of concern. He dropped the snow and pulled the glove back over his now frozen hand. He was still in the process of standing up when he felt something collide with the back of his head. Slowly, he reached behind and felt moisture on his hood. Frowning, he turned around, and saw Rhodey with a snowball in his hand, smirking.

“Did you just throw a ball of snow at my head? That is so rude. I am the crowned prince, I should throw you in the stocks for that,” Tony grumbled as he pick up his own pile of snow and started to mold it into a ball. Sure, he had never been in the snow before, but that didn’t mean Tony didn’t spend hours as a kid watching the other children play outside.

“You won’t though,” Rhodey countered, smiling as Tony melded together a perfect sphere between his hands. Of course he would build the perfect snowball on his first try. “Why don’t we continue this somewhere the guards won’t catch us?” He called out.

Tony nodded. “Yeah, probably a good idea.” 

They proceeded outside the town, avoiding patrols as they went, and into a clearing right before the woods. For the next several minutes, they threw snowballs at each other, and Tony could feel his skin numbing from the liquid penetrating the thick fabric of his gloves. But besides that, Tony felt… he felt good. His head didn’t feel like it was about to explode or his heart about to rip open his chest. It was a little hard to breathe, don’t get him wrong, but he was alive and he felt fine. He could totally do this ‘outside-in-the-cold’ thing more often. 

After a while, they started to walk back to the castle. Even if Tony felt fine, he knew they shouldn’t push it, no matter how much he wanted to stay out there all night long. Everything felt so peaceful, like nothing could break this tiny bubble of contentment that surrounded Tony. So, of course, when they made it to the inner town, that’s when it all went to shit.

It started off with a scream to the right of them and then, before Tony could even blink, Rhodey was off running in the direction it came from. Tony started after him, but with his weak heart, Tony’s endurance was practically shit and he had no hope of keeping up. Still he ran, pumping his legs as fast as he could, barely keeping the knight in his line of view. And then Rhodey stopped in front of a small townhouse, allowing Tony the time to reach him. 

“Hey–”

“Shh!” Rhodey placed his hand over his mouth, ear straining against the wood of the door. Despite the fact that Tony had indeed shut up like Rhodey asked so politely, he kept his hand over Tony’s mouth. Tony was tempted to lick it, if only to get the knight to move his hand so he could fucking breathe properly again. He did just sprint after all, in the freezing cold no less, thank you very much, and he could feel his heart doing double time in his chest from the exertion. Before Tony could though, Rhodey pulled his hand back and then used his body to break down the door. Inside was eerily quiet and hey wasn’t there a woman in here screaming before–

Hands, grabbing him from behind, hostile by the grip. Tony yanked and turned, kneeing the dude in the gut, before stepping back. “Yeah, you take a minute…” Tony said as the guy clutched at his stomach before turning around and seeing Rhodey fending off against two others. Tony went to go help, but was grabbed once again, this time from his right. He went to go swing his left, intending to punch his attacker straight in the jaw, but it was snatched back before he could. He yanked and pulled, twisted and turned, but it was no use… these men were a lot stronger than Tony. They started dragging him away, towards the door Rhodey knocked off its hinges not even two minutes earlier.

“Rhodey!” Rhodey threw a punch and turned, watching Tony being dragged out the door. He ran after him, but didn’t make it far until he was tackled again and thrown to the floor. 

“Tony!” He yelled before his head was literally slammed against the floor.

“Rhodey!” Tony watched in horror as his best friends face rebounded off the floor. Blood poured from his nose and dripped down onto the floor. Tony screamed and gave one last attempt to break free. He thrashed his body, yelling obscenities at the two holding him down, before he felt pain explode in the back of his skull, and then everything was black.


End file.
